Search form

You are here

First Lady Michelle Obama Challenges America's CEOs To Be Bold in Finding Ways to Hire Veterans

The First Lady met today with the Business Roundtable to talk about Joining Forces, her initiative that supports veterans and military families.

First Lady Michelle Obama delivers remarks on the Joining Forces Initiative to business leaders at the Business Roundtable Conference Center in Washington, D.C., March 13, 2013. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

First Lady Michelle Obama today met with the Business Roundtable, an association of chief executive officers of leading U.S. companies which combined have nearly 16 million employees, and challenged these leaders to make bold commitments to hire our veterans and military spouses and help them reach their full potential within their companies.

Mrs. Obama highlighted the need for action, referring to the hundreds of thousands of veterans and military spouses currently looking for work, and pointing out that in the coming years, over one million more will be hanging up their uniforms and transitioning back to civilian life. "These men and women will be returning to their families, rejoining their communities, and figuring out what’s next in their lives," said the First Lady. "And as they do all of that, the one thing that they're going to be thinking about is a job."

In her work with Joining Forces, Mrs Obama and Dr. Jill Biden have spent countless hours with active duty servicemen and women, veterans and their families, and she spoke to the incredible skills and training they have received, and the experience and wisdom they can bring to any company:

These men and women, our veterans and military spouses, have seen it all. And in the process, they have gained the types of qualities and values that you simply can’t teach anywhere else –- a relentless commitment to excellence, the ability to juggle multiple priorities, the wherewithal to meet deadlines under every circumstance imaginable.

They know how to develop and execute comple strategic plans, and they don’t give up until their mission is complete. And when the pressure is highest, that’s when our veterans and military spouses are at their best.

HIring these heroes, she said, is good for your company and good for our country.